Radical Goddess Thealogy: In her Nov. 22 post, "God to Goddess Timeline," blogger Athana reviews progress being made towards a previously posted goal of "…replacing God the Father with God the Mother by the year 2025."In her Nov. 14 post, "Getting Personal," Athana explains her different relationships with Goddess, differences between Goddess and the biblical God, and her view of deities from various time periods, including this:

Most Goddess people hold vivid pictures in their minds of specific deities, deities springing from the historical record – Isis, Macha, Diana, Brigit, Hecate, Innana, and others. Personally, I have a hard time with historical deities -- to one extent or another they’ve all been toyed with by the war-gods. After the war-god people conquered the old Goddess peoples, they said, "Okay, your Goddesses can sit next to our Gods – if they lick the Gods’ boots." Unlike me, most Goddess people seem able to see through the patriarchal layers shrouding these historical Goddesses, into their deep core, their original divinity.When I picture the Goddess, I like to zoom back to pre-patriarchaldays...

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Conference at Northwestern U. Nov. 26-28

Goddess authors Carol P. Christ, Ph.D., and Starhawk will be keynote speakers at the conference, The Feminine Divine in Cross Cultural Perspective, Nov. 26-28 at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. An impressive list of other speakers will add knowledge of Hindu Goddesses, Buddhism, African Diaspora religions, Judaism, and Christianity.I really like the inclusiveness of this conference (yes, yes, I know it doesn't include ALL religions, but at least it includes Goddess religions along with mainstream faiths, which is more than I could say for a certain other recent conference.) I hope many of you can go, and, maybe even tell us about it by leaving a comment.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Make Love AND War?

The feminist blogosphere is steaming with responses to (and with) an article in the Nov. 27 issue of The Nation (yes, it's common for mass circulation magazines to pre-date issues). Before I add my views to the pot, I'll catch you up on what others have been saying.

The Nation's article, "Arrows for War" by Kathryn Joyce describes a Christian group called "Quiverfulls." Joyce says the group's aim is to produce as many babies as possible so they can grow an army to fight enemies such as Muslims, liberals, progressives and feminists. It's not unusual for the wives to bear more than 10 children--indeed status seems to be related to the number of children produced. Joyce says that in a book that inspires the Quiverfulls, The Way Home: Beyond Feminism, Back to Reality, author Mary Pride argues that "feminism is a religion in its own right, one that is inherently incompatible with Christianity." Joyce shares the following quote by Mary Pride:

"Feminism is a totally self-consistent system aimed at rejecting God's role for men."

have decided that a literal reading of the Bible requires them to have as many children as possible. Contraception is evil and large families are needed as the arrows in the next Womb War....In the preparations for this war the men in the family are the commanders and women are the privates who are expected to make the children who are the weapons and ammunition. It's a breeding war, and for it to work the women privates must be willing to obey the orders of their commanders. You can guess how that comes about: by telling women that God is the only power who has a right to decide when they will have children and God works in mysterious ways, largely through the sex drives of their husbands....

It cannot be stated firmly enough, but organized opposition to abortion rights stems directly from the belief that women should not be able to limit the number of births they have, and the invocation of the sacredness of fetal life is a post hoc justification.

Before I get to the spiritual feminist part, I want to ask a practical question: What makes Quiverfull folks think these babies they're popping out like there's no tomorrow will grow up to support their point of view and fight their wars? How many Vietnam era "draft dodgers" came from families that supported the war? How many Pagans do you know who come from Pagan families? I have 2 friends (1 from a family of 3 kids, the other an only child) who married people from families that had at least 10 children and were originally Roman Catholic. By the time Mother-in-law #1 had borne 10 kids she and her husband left the Church and became liberal Christians and feminists. The 10 kids in this family are now on all sorts of religious paths, none of them Roman Catholic, including one who converted to Judaism. After Mother-in-law #2 had 10 children she and hubby left the Catholic Church for evangelical Protestantism. Their children are also on a variety of spiritual paths, none of them Catholic, and some atheistic or agnostic.

My guess is that the Quiverfulls' aims, as extreme and abhorrent as they seem, may come as no surprise to spiritual feminists. It's no shock to me that religions that refuse women equal participation and continue to empower men only, by representing the Divine as male only, should fight to keep control of women's bodies. And you can expect them to continue to use Biblical texts to do this.

Why do the women continue to cooperate? I think the answer is complicated, but one reason certainly is that the texts that they use to justify this oppression are considered sacrosanct in our society--even by some so-called progressives who still don't quite get that a society's major religious beliefs influence their social systems and their politics. I'll probably blog more about that at a later date, but I want to set something straight about contemporary Goddess beliefs. I've heard some people claim that because those who honor the Goddess or Great Mother apparently value fertility, that they expect them to be anti-abortion. Let me state this loud and clear: THE OVERWHELMING NUMBER OF THOSE OF US WHO HONOR GODDESS ARE PRO-CHOICE.

Perhaps the confusion arises from old-school archeologists who want to label archeological finds of Goddess objects "fertility cult figures." Sure, ancient Goddesses had babies--they had/have all the biological functions of women. But this was not their only function. The Triple Goddess honored by many modern Goddessians includes a Mother figure, but this Trinity also has a figure called the Maiden, who is independent, sometimes studious, sometimes atheletic, and has sex for no other reason than to give herself pleasure. We also have an older-woman figure, usually called the Crone, who is beyond child-bearing years and is honored for her wisdom. In addition, (and this sometimes gets lost in the shuffle) you don't have to be a specific age to identify with a specific aspect of this triune Goddess. In other words, you don't have to be over 50 to identify with the Crone, you might just be a woman of any age who doesn't focus her life on child-bearing, whose focus rather is, for examples, philosophy or spirituality or psychology. Or you may be 40 years old and much married yet feel yourself to a "Maiden" because your focus is on your own fulfillment or career advancement. Too, one woman may incorporate all these roles into her life at the same time. And when we honor the Mother and seek to be like her, our nurturing and birth-giving may not necessarily be related to biological children but may be nurturing by teaching, or giving birth to works of art or inventions. We celebrate Goddess(es) as the embodiment of the divine. Personifying her as female (no, not "feminine"), recognizes women as full human beings. Sure we like to see a women get pregnant and have babies WHEN THAT'S WHAT SHE WANTS. And we respect women who CHOOSE to stay home and nurture their children rather than work outside the home. But that is only one of many ways a woman may choose to live.

Like political feminism, one of the most important aspects of spiritual feminism is the right of a woman to control what is done to or with her body and to control her life. We feel that this is unlikely to be achieved in any significant and long-lasting way as long as women are in religions that support their subordination and take away their choices.

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Matrifocus: Samhain issue

The online Goddess journal Matrifocus, published at the cross-quarters, has been with us for a number of years and never fails to provoke and please. Like previous issues, the current one is divided into several sections, ending with photo essays and book reviews.

The section on Goddess/Woman has a poem and 4 articles including "Nin-Kasi: Mesopotamian Goddess of Beer" by Johanna Stuckey; and "Tregenda (Wild Host) of the Old Goddess, Spirits, and Witches," by Max Dashu. The section on Earth/Life has 2 poems and 4 articles, including "Do the Math," an article on the practical aspects of energy conservation, and a poem, "Leaving Cashleen," both by Patricia Monaghan.

I spent most of my time in the issue theme section, "Feminist Wave Dynamics." Introducing the theme in "Feminism and Spirituality," Sara Bebhinn writes:

The Goddess Movement has been a target of feminism since its inception. Women who do feminist work through magic or other spiritual means have been accused of distracting vital energy from the really important causes of feminism.

Bebhinn goes on to describe how she produced and directed a full-cast version of Carol Lynn Pearson’s "Mother Wove the Morning," originally a one-woman play. Bebhinn writes:

The reason Carol Lynn gives for writing the play is that: "Where God is male, the male is God." For me, this is, in a nutshell, why spirituality is not only a valid aspect of feminism, but a truly essential part of changing the world for the better, for good.

Each of the section’s other articles discuss spiritual aspects of the various waves of feminism. Kat Sojourner writes "Rewriting the Bible–Spirituality and the First Wave." Sara Willow writes about the second wave in her interview of Ruth Barrett, "Waving Tradition," and about the third wave in her article, "Each Wave is Part of the Ocean." In "Each Wave..." Willow relates her personal experiences at age 13 (in the late 1990s) chaining herself to the steps of a State capitol to protest cuts in AIDS funding, attending her first public ritual at the age of 16 (2001), participating in "Take Back the Night," and directing campus productions of "The Vagina Monologues." She tells how she was ostracized by her family for her radical actions, and called a "femi-nazi" on the college campus. Later she became acquainted with feminist spirituality through Starhawk’s work and came to understand the relationship between Goddess and political activism.

Willow says she has "found a home in the Dianic tradition" and is about the enter a priestess training program. She writes:

Some days I wonder if I am the only grrl my age on this path....I often feel I am a Maiden wandering in a sea of Mothers and Crones...; occasionally I worry that it isn't okay that I am so young. And then a womyn comes to me, a former stranger, and tells me with tears in her eyes how much she wishes she had known what I know at this young age.

I find Sara Willow’s article a moving personal statement and a perceptive view of the interrelationship of the political and spiritual in feminism.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

RCGI's Seasonal Salon, Fall Issue

Seasonal Salon is the online journal of the Re-Formed Congregation of the Goddess (RCGI) published at the solstices and equinoxes. I think of it as daughter (or re-incarnation?) of Of A Like Mind (OALM), the organization’s well-known newsprint journal that ceased publication several years ago.

In this Fall Equinox issue, Marise Folse’s "Gorgonic Reconstruction: Part I of II" immediately caught Medusa’s eye. Folse’s purpose is to tell us how "Gorgos" changed over the centuries from a pre-Hellenic Mediterranean Moon Goddess trinity to the much later "monstrous offspring," in which Medusa is the only human of the triad. Part I is fascinating and we look forward to Part II.

The other article that I’ve delved into enough at this point to blog about is Max Dashu’s "Vision in Midst of Difficulty." Dashu, founder of the Suppressed History Archives, and its guardian since 1970, is probably best known in the Goddess community for her encyclopedic knowledge of women and religion–especially but not limited to Goddess and Witchcraft–in a vast number of cultures, mythologies, and time periods. In this article she combines this knowledge with spiritual sensitivity and philosophy in exploring attitudes and explanations for life’s difficult times. She writes:

Here’s a funny thing about grief. Its opposite is not joy, if you ask me, but hope.

She then pays tribute to Goddess women who have died this past year, as well as those who have endured difficult illnesses.

Dashu gets into the possible astrological explanation for some recent problems. But I think she realizes this isn’t the ultimate "answer" to the question that all religions must tackle. She writes:

I don’t claim to have the answers, but will ask the question! In classic patriarchal theology, they call it theodicy, which means the problem of how the Divine can co-exist with or allow evil to exist, even prevail.

She then uses Icelandic mythology to try to get to an answer that might make sense to Goddess folk.

Other features in the current issue of RCGI's Seasonal Salon include: "California: A Captive Princess" by Bellezza Squillance, "Wine Parable: Simplicity" by Patricia Monaghan, and "Weisse Frauen: Dancing in the Harvest through the Trees," (which begins with a poem) by Deborah Hoffman-Wade.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Election Prayers

You can bet there was a whole lot of praying and other spiritual activities going on as the U.S. elections approached. I’m going to share mine with you, but I’m saving it for last. First I want to link you to some prayers that appeared on the Democratic Progressive website, DailyKos.

Dear God :I realize we haven't spoken in a while, but please don't let that stop you from hearing me out. Lincoln, famously, during the Civil War developed the idea that you (or some anonymous entity or force by another name that might as well be called God) had chosen that terrible war as a punishment for failing to eradicate the sin of slavery....

Father, we come to you today united together under your watchful eye and your guiding hand...

A prayer for "the Progressive" that addresses deity only in male terms? Interesting that neither of the other prayers from Kos quoted here do that. It seems to me that by 2006 a Progressive would be conscious of the FACT that using only male terms to refer to or address deity is not progressive but rather regressive. Yes, in your own practice you can address deity however you want. But you were offering this as a prayer to all Progressives and many of us long ago have rejected exclusively male language for deity. Next time , even if you don't honor the Mother of All in your private practice, in public prayer think about either degenderizing or using terms like "Mother-Father God," or alternating "father" and "mother."

The last one I'm going to quote, "A prayer for America," posted by "UU View" on Nov. 7, is my favorite. Not surprisingly for a prayer by a Unitarian Universalist, it does not use any term to address deity (and may not even be addressing deity). Like the first prayer, it is both humble and historical. It begins:

On this election day, may we embrace as a nation the best of who we are: the values of freedom, responsibility, equal worth of all persons, economic opportunity for all, one person one vote, peaceful transfer of power, Constitutional rights, balance of power, justice and accountability, moral and military restraint, and hope for a better future.

May we reject our worst tendencies: fear, greed, corruption, hypocrisy, self-righteousness, abuse of power, the domination of the many by the few, subversion of democracy, a drive toward empire, environmental destruction, blindness to the world around us, and cynical lies or dirty tricks for personal or political gain.

May tomorrow be the beginning of a new transformation, another turning, as we have done before: as we turned from slavery, from the denial of the vote for women, from the witch hunts of McCarthy and the denial of voting rights to people of color....

And ends:

May peace prevail in our hearts, and may peace prevail on earth.Blessed be America on our day of choice tomorrow.Amen.

As for me, at around 4:30 a.m. Tuesday morning I awoke, stirred, it seemed, by the full moon streaming through the window. I was surprised, because when I had gone to bed, it had been cloudy, the moon covered. But now She had broken through and I prayed:

Strong, gentle and great Mother,through this election may the door be openedto renewed freedom, liberty, and democracy.May there be change,and may the change be full, complete,and for the greater good.May the Democrats take both houses.Thank you.So be it.

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

A Goddess 'Zine is Born

Goddess Pages, a free online journal, or ‘zine in blogspeak, was born this Samhain and its first issue is wonderful.

Many of the writers are affiliated with the Glastonbury Goddess Temple and other British Goddess organizations; there are also contributors from other parts of the world. The invocation for this issue, I’m honored to say, is by moi.

"The Great Goddess and Her Influence Herstorically and in the Present," by Cristina Biaggi Ph.d., is the opening article. "Re-membering Asphodel P. Long" by Lydia Ruyle, is a tribute to the late Asphodel Long , who passed from this Earth on Imbolc 2005. A pioneer in British Goddess feminism, Asphodel was author of books and articles that, among other things, made important contributions to our understanding of the pre-Abrahamic religions of the ancient near east, including their Goddesses and the concept of Sophia. I was lucky to be on some mailing-lists with Asphodel and considered her an online friend. Lydia’s article is beautifully written and illustrated—and well worth the pdf click (the rest of Goddess Pages are in html, but leaving this particular article in pdf helped preserve the excellent format and quality of illustrations).

... there is a threat...from within what many would consider our own circle. It is the threat of the New Age and its writers and gurus who talk of ascension, of transcending human form, and of becoming one with our ‘light bodies’, and other similar concepts, and who are providing us with many of the contemporary ideas about, and images of, the Goddess. Theirs is not the language of the Earth, but of the dualism which has held us in chains for millennia. In our thirst for the rise of the Sacred Feminine, in our joy at sensing her return to human consciousness, many of us have ceased to consider the form in which She is being presented to us through the many New Age images and writings that grow in popularity by the day....

Jacqui goes on to discuss the late Monica Sjöö’s book, New Age and Armageddon (1992), republished as The Dark/Light Mother (1999, Plain View), which, imo, hasn’t received enough attention. In it, Sjöö, in great depth and detail, explains the differences between Goddess spirituality and New Age thought. As I said, this has bothered me for some time, ever since the late 1980s when I went into bookstores looking for Goddess books and found them shelved in the "New Age" section. This confusion, this subsuming of Goddess into ideas that are antithetical to our understanding of Her, has gotten worse. In addition to what Jacqui discusses, I see some other "reasons" (which are really excuses) for this: some Goddess feminists use the same or similar spiritual tools as New Age practitioners–such as astrology, tarot, meditation, and herbal and other alternative healing. Another "reason" for the confusion between Goddess and New Age is that there has been pressure by publishers for books that are not as feminist as earlier Goddess material. What is left when you filter out feminism may seem very similar to New Age (and so, from the publishers’ pov, be much more saleable.) Jacqui goes into other reasons, and also points out some of the differences between Goddess spirituality and New Age thought. Near the end of this important article she writes:

We have come so far, and She is within our reach, but we must not forget how hard the journey has been, nor how much we have to lose in allowing Her image and nature to be subverted by the New Age. We must continue to examine and question the forms in which the Goddess is shown to us and, as we do so, remember Her roots within the dark soil, that aspect of Her that is most rejected and most feared. She is in everything, not just in those things that we find ‘acceptable’.

If you thought Goddess and New Age were the same or similar, we forgive you. But please go read Jacqui’s article. If you already understand the difference, I think you’ll want to read her article too, to clarify your own thinking and to be able to explain it better to others.

Goddess Pages joins several other free online Goddess journals. We plan to explore two more of them (Matrifocus and RCGI’s Seasonal Salon) in the next few days. If you know of any others we should be writing about, please tell us in a comment.

Saturday, November 04, 2006

Events Coil: Nov. 6 - Dec. 24

As far as we know all of the following are "open" functions; but some may be limited to women. Please check the websites for group policies. All times are local. When listing events for the same date, we try to list the events occuring first, taking into account time zone differences. If there is a discrepancy between our listings and the listings on the web page linked to, assume their web page is correct, as information may have changed since we listed from it. This Events Coil goes through the Solstice (Yul). The next Events Coil is planned for early December, and will include mid-December through at least mid-January, and possibly through Brigid (Candelmas). If you have an event you want listed in future event coils, please leave it in a comment. See the end of this post for what info we need.Nov. 6, gather 7 p.m., ritual 7:30 p.m. Feast of the Ancestors , The Temple of Goddess Spirituality Dedicated to Sekhmet, Indian Springs NV

We'd like to add your Goddess and spiritual feminist events (and those you know about that are open to the public) no matter where in the world they are. Leave a comment with your event, giving: Name of event, sponsoring organization (if any), town, date, time (if known), and, required: url of website where person can get more info. (Do NOT give street addresses, phone numbers or email addresses. People should go to the website to get that info.) We plan to publish an Events Coil every month. If the event you leave in a comment takes place after the date of the next Events Coil post, we will also include it in the main section of that post.

Copyright 2006-2017 Medusa Coils; bloggers retain copyrights to their posts. Permission is given to other blogs/bloggers to quote excerpts with appropriate attribution and links. Opinions expressed by staff bloggers and guest bloggers are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of others who blog here.